The Trillionaire's Disgrace: My Blood System Demands Sacrif.

Chapter 3: BLOOD INHERITANCE

Marcus followed Sarah through corridors he'd walked a thousand times as a kid except now they were rotting. Wallpaper peeled like dead skin. Family portraits hung crooked, eyes seeming to track his movement. His danger sense hummed low but constant, like standing near power lines.

Sarah moved like someone who'd done this before. Confident. Tactical. She had a flashlight but didn't turn it on until they reached what used to be his father's study.

The beam cut through darkness, illuminating a room that looked like a bomb had hit it. Furniture overturned. Books scattered. Bloodstains on the carpet. Old, brown, permanent.

Marcus's father had died here.

He tried to feel something. Grief. Rage. Anything.

Nothing came. Just empty recognition. Dad died there. That's where his head hit the desk. That stain is probably his brain matter.

Clinical. Detached. Like reading someone else's autopsy report.

"You're different," Sarah said, watching him. "Colder. How high is your corruption?"

"Thirty-eight percent. How the fuck do you know about that?"

Sarah knelt by the overturned desk and pressed something. A hidden panel clicked open. Inside was a metal box covered in strange symbols that hurt to look at.

"Your father left this for you. Made me promise that if anything happened to him, I'd make sure you got it." She pulled out the box. "He knew the system would activate eventually. Hoped it wouldn't be this soon."

Marcus took the box. It was warm. Vibrating slightly. The symbols seemed to writhe.

The blood system screen appeared:

[LEGENDARY ITEM DETECTED]

[CHEN FAMILY LEGACY BOX]

[WARNING: OPENING THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING]

[CORRUPTION RISK: HIGH]

[KNOWLEDGE RISK: MAXIMUM]

[SOME TRUTHS DESTROY THE PEOPLE WHO LEARN THEM]

[OPEN ANYWAY?]

"Before you open that," Sarah said, "you need to understand what you're dealing with. The Ancestral Blood System isn't a gift. It's a prison."

"The system already told me. At one hundred percent corruption, a demon breaks free."

"Not a demon. An Archon." Sarah pulled out a tablet, showed him an image; ancient text, diagrams that looked like they came from a medieval torture manual. "Five hundred years ago, a god died fighting something called the Void. The god's corpse was carved into five pieces and sealed into bloodlines. The Chen family got one piece. Four other families got the rest."

Marcus stared at the diagram. Five family names in old script: Chen, Wright, Kane, Zhao, Volkov.

"Wait. Wright? As in Eleanor Wright? Kane as in Victor fucking Kane?"

"The same families that carved up your empire after the massacre. Coincidence?" Sarah's laugh was bitter. "Your father discovered the truth twenty years ago. All five families have system users. And there's a secret organization: the Crimson Court that's been trying to kill them before they reach one hundred percent corruption."

Marcus's mind raced. "Victor Kane has a system."

"The Domination System. Last I checked, he was at ninety-four percent." Sarah met his eyes. "He killed your family to steal your father's research. Your dad was close to figuring out how to use the system without corruption. Victor couldn't allow that."

The mansion groaned. Somewhere above, floorboards creaked.

Sarah's hand went to her gun. "We're not alone."

Marcus's danger sense exploded. His combat instinct screamed warnings. Multiple hostiles. Armed. Professional.

The blood system screen flashed:

[AMBUSH DETECTED]

[HOSTILES: 8]

[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]

[SURVIVAL ODDS: 11%]

[RECOMMENDATION: RUN NOW, QUESTIONS LATER]

"Crimson Court?" Marcus whispered.

"Worse." Sarah was already moving toward a side door. "Victor Kane's private kill squad. He must've been monitoring the estate. Go, now!"

Footsteps thundered through the mansion. Tactical teams moving in coordinated patterns. Marcus's enhanced senses picked up whispered communications, weapons being loaded.

Sarah grabbed his arm. "The tunnels. Your father built escape routes"

A window exploded inward. Flashbang grenade. Marcus's combat instinct made him close his eyes and turn away before it detonated.

The world went white. Sound disappeared into high-pitched ringing.

Through the disorientation, Marcus felt Sarah pulling him. His feet moved on autopilot. Down stairs. Into darkness. Underground.

His senses returned gradually. They were in tunnels beneath the mansion, stone passages covered with mold and rat piss.

"Keep moving," Sarah gasped. Behind them, flashlight beams. Voices shouted.

Marcus ran. The legacy box clutched against his chest, still warm, still vibrating.

The blood system offered options:

[EMERGENCY SHOP]

[TEMPORARY ABILITIES - ESCAPE FOCUSED]

[SHADOW STEP: $100,000 (TELEPORT 50 FEET, 3 USES)]

[ECHOLOCATION: $50,000 (NAVIGATE DARKNESS)]

[SMOKE FORM: $150,000 (BECOME INTANGIBLE, 30 SECONDS)]

Marcus's balance: $650,047.23

He bought echolocation. His perception exploded outward. He could "see" the tunnel layout through sound, like a bat. Every drip of water, every echo painted a three-dimensional map.

"Left," he told Sarah. "There's a fork ahead, left tunnel leads to the city sewers."

"How do you... never mind." Sarah followed his lead.

They ran through the darkness while their pursuers closed in. Marcus's echolocation picked up the kill squad splitting up, trying to cut off escape routes.

The tunnel opened into a larger chamber. Old Chen family bunker. Emergency supplies from decades ago. Sarah grabbed a rusted crowbar, handed Marcus a length of pipe.

"Not much, but better than nothing."

Footsteps echoed closer. Three men emerged from the tunnel behind them. Tactical gear. Suppressed weapons. Night vision goggles.

Marcus's combat instinct assessed them. Military trained. Experienced. Dangerous.

The lead man raised his weapon. "Marcus Chen. Victor Kane sends his regards."

Then he pulled the trigger.

Marcus's danger sense had already put him in motion. The bullet passed through where he'd been standing. Sarah swung the crowbar, caught one attacker in the knee. He went down screaming.

Marcus drove the pipe into another man's throat. Not clean. But effective. The man collapsed, choking.

The third attacker got a shot off. It hit Sarah in the shoulder. She spun, went down hard.

Rage should have filled Marcus. Fear for his newfound cousin. Anything.

Nothing came. Just cold analysis. Sarah's wounded. That reduces our combat effectiveness by forty percent. Need to eliminate threat quickly.

Marcus moved. His enhanced combat ability made him faster, more efficient. He disarmed the shooter, broke his wrist, slammed his head against the stone wall. The man collapsed.

Marcus checked Sarah. The wound was bad; through-and-through, but arterial. She was losing blood fast.

"Fuck," Sarah gasped. "Should've... seen that coming."

The blood system screen appeared:

[ALLY CRITICALLY WOUNDED]

[SARAH CHEN: 8 MINUTES UNTIL DEATH]

[OPTIONS AVAILABLE:]

[ADVANCED HEALING: $300,000 (SAVE HER)]

[LEAVE HER: $0 (SHE DIES, YOU ESCAPE)]

[SACRIFICE HER LIFE FORCE: -$100,000 (GAIN POWER, SHE DIES)]

Marcus stared at the options. Sarah was his cousin. Family. The only person who'd offered him answers.

But $300,000 was nearly half his remaining funds. He needed that money for abilities. For revenge. For survival.

The logical choice was obvious.

"Buy advanced healing," Marcus said.

[PURCHASE CONFIRMED]

[BALANCE: $350,047.23]

[CORRUPTION: 42%]

His hands began to glow with faint red light. The system's healing power flowed through him; not gentle, but effective. He pressed his palms against Sarah's wound.

She screamed. The system's healing was like cauterization with liquid fire. Brutal but fast. Flesh knitted. Blood vessels sealed. Thirty seconds later, the wound was a pink scar.

Sarah stared at him. "You saved me."

"Don't make it sound noble. You have information I need."

"Still. Thank you." She managed to sit up. "We need to move. More will come."

Marcus helped her stand. Grabbed the legacy box he'd dropped. They moved deeper into the tunnels, following Marcus's echolocation toward the sewers.

Twenty minutes later, they emerged through a rusted grate into a drainage canal. Rain was falling, washing away the blood and filth. The city sprawled above them.

Sarah leaned against the concrete wall, still weak. "You should open the box now. Before Victor finds us again."

Marcus looked at the metal container. The symbols hurt worse now, like staring into the sun.

"What's in it?"

"Your father's research. His discoveries about the system. And something else." Sarah's expression was grim. "A choice."

Marcus opened the box.

Inside was a journal. His father's handwriting, filled with notes and diagrams. A USB drive. And a small vial of black liquid that seemed to absorb light.

The blood system screen went crazy:

[LEGENDARY ITEM: CORRUPTION PURGE SERUM]

[ONE-TIME USE]

[EFFECT: REDUCES CORRUPTION TO 0%]

[COST: ALL SYSTEM ABILITIES LOST PERMANENTLY]

[WARNING: EXTREMELY RARE - LAST ONE IN EXISTENCE]

[YOUR FATHER SPENT 15 YEARS MAKING THIS]

[IT CAN SAVE YOU]

[OR DOOM YOU]

Marcus held the vial up. In the rain, it looked like liquid void.

"Dad made this?"

"He wanted you to have a choice," Sarah said quietly. "He knew the system would activate someday. Knew you'd face what he faced. This serum can free you from the corruption. Reset everything to zero. You'd lose your abilities, but you'd be human again."

"But I'd be powerless. Victor Kane would kill me in a day."

"Maybe. Or maybe you'd find another way." Sarah took the journal. "Your father's research is in here. Methods to use the system more efficiently. Ways to minimize corruption. Techniques he developed over decades. With this knowledge and your current abilities, you might survive long enough to destroy Victor."

Marcus looked at the vial, then at his reflection in a puddle. His face was healing but still bruised. His eyes looked dead. Empty.

Thirty-eight percent corruption. He'd sacrificed his mother's voice, his tears, his happiness. Pieces of his soul converted to power.

The serum could give him back his humanity.

But humanity without power meant death.

The blood system screen offered advice:

[DECISION POINT: RESET OR CONTINUE?]

[RESET: LOSE ABILITIES, REGAIN HUMANITY, SURVIVE UNLIKELY]

[CONTINUE: KEEP POWER, LOSE MORE SOUL, BECOME MONSTER]

[THERE IS NO GOOD CHOICE]

[WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM]

Marcus thought about Elena's face when she signed those divorce papers. Thought about Richard's brass knuckles. Eleanor's contempt. Victor Kane's smug smile.

Thought about forty-seven family members murdered in one night.

He put the vial back in the box. Closed it.

"I'm not using it yet. Not until Victor Kane is dead."

Sarah nodded slowly. "That's what your father said too. He never used his. Kept telling himself 'just one more day, one more fight.' By the time he realized he'd gone too far, it was too late." She met his eyes. "Don't make his mistake, Marcus."

"How high was his corruption when he died?"

"Ninety-seven percent."

They sat in silence, rain falling around them. Marcus opened the journal, started reading. His father's handwriting. Instructions. Warnings. Love letters to a son he knew might have to walk the same dark path.

The last entry was dated the night before the massacre:

"Marcus, if you're reading this, I'm dead. I'm sorry. I thought I could control it. I thought I was strong enough. I was wrong."

"The system promises power, but the price is always higher than you think. Every sacrifice seems justified in the moment. Every step deeper seems necessary."

"By the time you realize you've become the monster you swore to fight, it's too late."

"Use the serum. Please. Don't be like me."

"I love you. I'm proud of you."

"Even if I never got to tell you."

Marcus's eyes stayed dry. He couldn't cry anymore. He'd sacrificed that.

But something cold and hard settled in his chest.

"I'm going to kill Victor Kane," Marcus said. "Then I'm going after the other families. All of them."

"That's a suicide mission."

"Probably." Marcus stood, tucked the journal and box under his arm. "But they left me alive. That was their mistake."

Sarah struggled to her feet. "Where will you go?"

"Somewhere I can prepare. Train. Get stronger." Marcus checked his phone. News alerts showed his face plastered everywhere. WANTED: ARMED AND DANGEROUS. "The city's not safe anymore."

"I can help. I have FBI resources. Safe houses. Contacts."

Marcus's danger sense pulsed. Not strong. Just... something off.

"Why are you helping me, Sarah? Really?"

She hesitated. Just a moment. But Marcus caught it.

"Because you're family."

His new lie detection ability, the one he hadn't even tested yet, activated automatically. Her words lit up in his perception.

Truth: 67%

Not a complete lie. But not complete truth either.

"What aren't you telling me?"

Sarah sighed. "The FBI didn't send me to help you, Marcus. They sent me to stop you. The Crimson Court has people in every agency. When your system activated, they flagged you as a threat. I'm supposed to bring you in."

"But you're not."

"No." She met his eyes. "Because I watched my uncle die fighting the system. Watched him sacrifice everything to protect you. I won't let that be for nothing." She pulled out a business card, handed it over. "That's a secure line. When you're ready to move against Victor Kane, call me. I'll help however I can."

Marcus pocketed the card. His danger sense had quieted. She was telling the truth now.

"One question. How many system users are active right now?"

"Five that we know of. You. Victor Kane. Two others we've identified. And one we can't find."

"Five pieces of a dead god. Five families. Five users."

"Five potential apocalypses." Sarah started walking toward the ladder leading up to street level. "The Crimson Court's job is to make sure none of them hit one hundred percent. They've been doing it for five centuries."

"They failed with my father."

"No. They killed him at ninety-seven percent. Three percent away from the end of the world." Sarah paused at the ladder. "That's what they'll do to you if you're not careful. The moment you become too dangerous, they'll eliminate you."

She climbed up and disappeared into the rainy night.

Marcus stood alone in the drainage canal. Rain fell. Sirens wailed in the distance. His face was on every news channel. His corruption sat at forty-two percent and rising.

The blood system screen appeared:

[QUEST UPDATED: DESTROY THE FIVE FAMILIES]

[NEW INFORMATION ACQUIRED]

[CRIMSON COURT: ACTIVE THREAT]

[VICTOR KANE: PRIMARY TARGET]

[YOUR FATHER'S RESEARCH: OBTAINED]

[PURGE SERUM: STORED]

[CORRUPTION: 42%]

[BALANCE: $350,047.23]

[YOU'RE GETTING STRONGER]

[YOU'RE GETTING COLDER]

[QUESTION: WHEN YOU FINALLY KILL VICTOR KANE]

[WILL YOU STILL BE HUMAN ENOUGH TO ENJOY IT?]

Marcus looked at his reflection one more time. Dead eyes. Empty expression.

He couldn't feel happiness anymore. Couldn't cry. Couldn't remember his mother's voice.

But he could still feel hate. Cold. Pure. Unbreakable.

Maybe that was enough.

Marcus climbed the ladder toward the city above. Toward revenge.

Behind him, in the darkness of the drainage canal, the legacy box's symbols glowed faintly.

The serum inside remained unused.

Waiting.

[CORRUPTION: 42%]

[HUMANITY: DECLINING]

[VENGEANCE: ABSOLUTE]